International CSOs letter regarding Amulsar mine
January 22, 2019
The undersigned civil society groups stand in solidarity with the residents of Jermuk, Gndevaz and Kechut, and with the environmental activists and concerned civil society in Armenia and appeal to the Government of Armenia to act on the Amulsar mine pr
New reports add details to investigation of Armenia gold mine
January 8, 2019
If you’re looking for a revolution, sign up for notifications from your embassy. The messages pinging on smartphone screens that night in October began not long after stepping into the evening streets around the Yerevan Cascade, warning of impending demonstrations outside the Armenian parliament. To be sure, the flashing blue and red sirens and thousands of people flooding past were impossible to ignore as well, so the consulates’ SMSs came as little surprise and instead provided more than anything context to the oncoming commotion.
Biodiversity offsetting and other problems of the ESIA of Amulsar gold project in Armenia
January 8, 2019
This report is a critical analysis, with regard to the impacts on biodiversity, of the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) of the Amulsar Gold Project. Special attention has been paid to the biodiversity offsetting proposal for creation o
Social impacts of the Amulsar mine in Armenia
January 8, 2019
The Amulsar mine presents a number of considerable health and social risks to local communities, the tourism potential of the nearby Jermuk spa resort and the surrounding villages’ orchards, pastures and water supplies. The company Lydian Armenia prepa
Shuakhevi Compliance Review
December 12, 2018
In view of the considerable public resources invested in the Shuakhevi HPP project and in view of the negative impacts on local people’s safety and livelihoods, as well on local resources needed for sustainable development of the Adjara region and Geor
Leaked World Bank report depicts Georgia’s Nenskra hydropower project as major liability
November 14, 2018
Successive international analyses have cast serious doubts over the financial viability of the planned Nenskra plant. While the Georgian government keeps the project’s contract confidential, a leaked World Bank report offers a scathing account of the fiscal implications of this hydropower development.
Shuakhevi hydropower plant, Georgia
August 13, 2018
Georgia’s biggest and one of the most controversial hydropower plants is mostly famous for its failures. Two months after becoming operational in 2017 its tunnels collapsed. And after two years of repairs water is leaking from the dam. Shuakhevi hydropower plant (HPP) once promised to bring energy independence to Georgia. Instead it managed to collect an impressive ‘portfolio’ of problems in a wide range of areas: from biodiversity, to gender impacts, to community relations.
The European Parliament resolution urges European financial institution to respect indigenous peoples rights
August 9, 2018
Celebrate the rights of those 5 per cent who hold 80 per cent of the planet’s biodiversity. Today is the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples.
Devastating floods are the latest warning sign about controversial Nenskra hydropower project
July 31, 2018
From the outside, this tragedy might seem like a natural disaster, a force majeure. But one cannot ignore the human factors at play.
Environmental problems of Shuakhevi Hydro Power Plant, Adjara, Georgia
July 23, 2018
The 184 MW Shuakhevi Hydro Power Plant is under construction on the Adjaristsqali river and two of its main tributaries in the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, Georgia. The design envisages it as a run-of-the-river plant with capacity of diurnal storage
